


When All is Done and Over

by stellacanta



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Fall of Insomnia, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-19
Updated: 2019-05-19
Packaged: 2020-03-07 18:35:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18878896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stellacanta/pseuds/stellacanta
Summary: draucorweek day 6:“Come home”//Goodbye//Cor being outnumbered during the fall of Insomnia and Glauca/Drautos seeing itCor in motion was a sight to behold. The fluid grace with which the man moved in the midst of a battle was what caught his eye in the first place, and the spark that lead to the fire of their relationship. Even now, he couldn’t help but stop and marvel at Cor fighting through throne of enemies he had no hope of combating alone. (Even if internally, he was dreading when the man would inevitably fall.)





	When All is Done and Over

Drautos had known better than to expect Cor of all people to take the order for the crownsguard to stand down on the day of the treaty signing without a fight. Cor who stood by the royals like his life depended on it, and Cor who was unflinchingly loyal to Regis. No doubt the marshal would argue the crownsguard’s place was by the king’s side, and he would certainly cause trouble if he had even an inkling of what was to befall the city during the signing.

So he requested that Cor be sent away on the day of the signing on some trivial matter he had devised and, smallest of mercies, the king had somehow agreed to do so. 

In private, he had also suggested to Monica Elshett, Cor’s second in command, that perhaps she stick by the borders that day just in case. Monica was important to Cor, and, seeing as Cor was important to him, he figured he could afford this as a favor to Cor.

He hadn’t expected Cor to suddenly wise up to the true reason for the treaty, and decide to return to Insomnia for no discernable reason. Even if there was something satisfying about watching Cor slice his way through the MTs with his trusty katana, it was still an unexpected surprise he would have to deal with. “Leave the marshal be,” he ordered, voice distorted through the helmet. “We have much more important targets to take care of.”

“But sir,” one of his human subordinates insisted. “The marshal is the head of the crownsguard. If we take him out we can leave the crownsguard in disarray.”

“The crownsguard are the least of your worries now. The princess must not be allowed to escape the city with the ring in hand. If she does, the crystal will become useless to us. Without the ring, the crystal’s power cannot be accessed.”

“Yes sir!” A few of them scrambled into action to locate the princess and the ring. No doubt Nyx Ulric, that wayward glaive and perpetual thorn in his side, would be with her. No doubt there would be a confrontation between the two of them soon. One he would try to postpone for as long as he could. (For all the trouble Ulric caused him, he couldn’t deny that he admired the glaive just the tiniest bit.)

He switched back to the feed of Cor and felt something akin to rage mixed with horror when he saw a large group of MTs swarm Cor. Drautos found himself checking Cor’s current location. He had moved from where he had been last and seemed to be headed to Section D, which just so happened to be where Nyx was headed.

Drautos set off for Cor’s current location. He might as well hit two birds with one stone if he could.

…

There were a few times in Cor’s life when he came to regret his actions. One, the most memorable, was when at fifteen he thought to challenge Gilgamesh in the ruins, which at that point were newly excavated, at Taelpar Crag. He had been lucky to get out with his life in that fight, and fortunate that the Blademaster thought fit to take only his sword and not his life. Now, being surrounded by enemies and tiring quickly as he fought through them, was another time. 

He barely caught sight of the magitek swordsman at his side swing at him and he wondered if this would be the end of him, when a familiar broadsword came into view and blocked the attack. He smirked despite himself when he saw who it was. “My knight in shining armor,” Cor muttered dryly. “Finally decided to start swing that big sword of yours around instead of keeping it on for show huh?”

Maybe it wasn’t the time for idle chit chat, but something about the sight of Titus Drautos with a big sword, swinging it around like it weighed nothing, always did something to him. Drautos had commented on what a sight Cor made when he was fighting, he could say the same of the captain. “Marshal,” Drautos managed to reply as he sliced through yet another MT. “I think it would be best if you talked a little less and swung that oversized blade of yours a little more.”

Cor gave a bark of laughter. Ah, there was that dry wit that had kept his attention all these nights and days. “I think I can manage that, captain.” Having Drautos fight by his side gave him the reprieve he needed and between the two of them, they made quick work of the troopers. Drautos was the one who spotted another dropship land nearby, and who pulled him down a sidestreet before he could say a word with a muffled swear.

“This isn’t to the citadel,” Cor said when he noticed the direction that Drautos was pulling them through down ruined sidestreets and main streets. “Where are you taking me?”

“Out,” Drautos replied with a grunt. “In case you haven’t noticed, it’s not safe here.” Drautos shoved him towards a familiar bike parked on the side of the road and handed the helmet to him. “If I leave you, will you promise me that you’ll leave this place?”

“And leave you to fight those things by yourself?” Cor accepted the helmet from Drautos but could only look at the other man with incredulity. “Have you not seen how they’ve filled pretty much every street and sidestreet? And where are your men captain? They must have a heck of a time keeping this place in order.”

“With yours trying to keep everyone safe and getting people out of the city I suppose.” Cor sighed and sat sideways on the bike, but made no move to put on the helmet. “The crown city isn’t safe to stay at anymore. Right now, the focus is getting everyone out.”

Cor played with the helmet a bit as he glanced around him. Drautos was right, if nothing else, the structural damage to the buildings would need to be fixed before anyone could come back to them. “What about the king? Clarus? What happened to them?” Drautos slowly looked away and he felt a sense of grief welling up in him. Cor knew that it would happen, but to have confirmation. “How-” He took a breath to force himself to calm down. “-how did they die?”

“Honorably, fighting to protect their people.” Drautos pulled their foreheads together. “This is why you have to get out of the city alive, heart. I can’t have you dying on the streets to stop an entire city from falling, it’s going to happen and your death would be meaningless.” Cor felt his breath die in his throat as Drautos pulled away slightly. There was a soft, but sad, look in the other man’s eyes and his lips were quirked in the rare smile. “Go, my heart. The prince needs you out there.” 

‘ _But what about me_ ,’ he thought to himself as Drautos pulled him into a kiss that was meant to be chaste but quickly turned into something deep and fierce. ‘ _What if I need you by my side?_ ’ Cor was left panting when they finally pulled apart, half lidded eyes sought each other out and he nuzzled his cheek into the warm gloved hand that Drautos had on his face. He moved to lean in when he felt a thumb brush along his cheekbones, back and forth, and Drautos search his eyes and face as if to memorize them. 

Drautos moved back and removed his hand. He tried not to lunge for its warmth. (He tried hard not to think about how this felt like a goodbye.) “Now get out of here Cor before the Nifs decide this looks like a good place to land.” 

Cor nodded after a brief pause and put on the helmet. “Titus!” He called after the man’s departing back. He felt something like hope blossom in his chest, an almost desperate hope that he couldn’t help but clench to despite how hopeless it was, when Drautos looked back. “When all this is over? Come home safely-” He opened his mouth to say more but realized that their home wasn’t exactly safe to return to anymore. It was probably amongst the apartment blocks that were left a smoldering wreck. He clenched his hands into fists. “I’ll be waiting for you outside the wall, we’ll make a new life for ourselves out there!”

Drautos simply inclined his head to show that he had heard and gave him a little wave before he turned around and walked down the street. Cor didn’t leave until the man was no longer visible. Fortunately, the path from here to the wall was clear and he fought the urge to take the bike back around and drag Drautos out with him.

The man had his duty to protect what was left to the city, and he had a duty to the prince.


End file.
